Family pleads to keep possession of homestead

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, September 6, 2005

E.R. Lewis and his wife and children own 160 acres between FM 2920 and Mahaffey Road, land which Klein ISD wants and is now trying to condemn.

Klein ISD made an offer to the Lewis family in February for their land. However, Diana Browning, daughter of the majority property owners, said the school district's offer was well below fair market value.

Browning said they have received a number of offers from commercial and residential developers interested in purchasing the Lewis' property. The offers matched or were above the market value.

However, Browning said they cannot entertain those offers while the school district is attempting to condemn their property.

The district wants the land for a future intermediate school and future high school. Liz Johnson, Community Relations Director of Klein ISD, did not reply to questions prior to press time last Thursday.

In early August, the Lewis family received a letter from Klein ISD notifying them of the condemnation lawsuit. The letter came after Browning pleaded with the school district at a board meeting in March to look elsewhere for property.

The City of Tomball then sent a letter to Klein ISD in hopes that the district would purchase land elsewhere. Browning said a few days after the city sent the letter, her family received notification of the condemnation lawsuit.

According to Browning, the letter her family received stated that if the district decided not to use the land in the coming years, the family could purchase the land back at fair market value.

Browning said taking into account years of increased value on the property and the school district's insistence to purchase it now at below-market value, the district would then make a substantial profit on the land.

Browning said her family has been getting calls of support from people the family doesn't even know. And Browning, who works in the real estate industry, said she knows of several possible land parcels the district could purchase that would be more feasible than her family's.

Now, she is concerned for her aging father's health. Browning said her father, E.R. Lewis, recently suffered a mild heart attack and doctors attributed his declining health, in large part, to an increased amount of stress.

The Lewis family bought the land in 1942 and used it primarily as a dairy farm. And while the Lewises are no longer in the dairy industry, they still keep a number of cattle on their property.

In October of 2004, the voters of Klein ISD authorized a bond referendum for $224 million. Plans for the bond included the construction of a fifth Klein ISD high school and land for a sixth. The fifth high school is planned for 2009. The bond also included plans for six more elementary schools to be built in stages through 2009.